Dear Catalyst Community,

Seeing video of a Nazi flag unfurled at a Bernie Sanders rally in Arizona on Friday was a brutal shock. It was disgusting, disturbing, and frightening. But it was not surprising. Those of us in Catalyst who are not Jewish offer our unwavering solidarity to Jewish communities facing the upsurge in antisemitism driven by white nationalists inside and outside of government. And we call on non-Jewish people to join us in the fight against antisemitism as part of our commitment to collective liberation.

Since Trump began running for office, acts of antisemitism have been on the rise, from defacing Jewish cemeteries and places of worship to outright murder (in Pittsburg and San Diego). Antisemitism is an integral part of white nationalism and white supremacy, as discussed in Skin In the Game: How Antisemitism Animates White Nationalism by Eric Ward, and illustrated in chilling videos of white men carrying torches and chanting “Jews Will Not Replace Us” in Charlottesville the night before one of their number murdered Heather Heyer.

So it isn’t surprising that white nationalists will focus their attacks on Bernie Sanders, and we should be prepared for more of this, as he continues his presidential campaign. The current regime – including its re-election campaigning – will continue to empower and embolden white nationalists, white supremacists, and the far right, who are happy to use antisemitism to rally people against Bernie Sanders and the platform and policies he advocates.

Meanwhile, ironically, we can also expect both Republicans and establishment-connected Democrats to accuse him and his supporters of antisemitism for criticizing Israeli policies and promoting Palestinian human rights. Modern day Zionism has embraced white supremacy, and we have seen this used to silence Muslim and Black movement leaders. Safety for all of us comes from coming together to combat all forms of oppression, not from apartheid policies. We reject the idea that any criticism of the state of Israel is antisemitic, and as we combat antisemitism, we also need to combat the way that charges of antisemitism are weaponized (often by the very same people promoting it) to undermine progressive organizing and to pit people against each other.

As this election campaign continues, those of us who oppose white nationalism and white supremacy, regardless of who our candidate of choice is, have to be prepared for this and prepared to oppose it.  This can be complicated sometimes for those of us who are not Jewish, because we don’t always fully understand what antisemitism looks like, and we don’t always know the history of antisemitism beyond the Holocaust. So this moment highlights the need to build our understanding so that when there are acts of antisemitism, it is not left to Jews to name and oppose it.